"Lost property..."

You have all heard the horror stories, or even experienced yourself the challenges involved when your luggage has been (cough) misplaced...

This follows the news of the amazing figures that British airports loose a reported 2.5 million items of luggage a year...

More than 70,000 items will never be reunited with their owners, with Scots being the main luggage losers...

The 2009 figures, for the 20 biggest British airports, also reveal that the value of the never-returned luggage this year is more than £7 million...

InsureandGo, which compiled the figures, said it estimated that every day nearly 7,000 items of luggage put on or taken off planes are misplaced...

The company also said that 12 per cent of those who claim to have lost luggage between 2006 and 2008 believed it was stolen intentionally, while 54 per cent reckoned it was put on the wrong flight by mistake...

Also, 17 per cent believed that someone else had mistakenly picked up their bags.
As many as 13 per cent of Scottish air travellers suffered from lost or misplaced luggage in the 2006/08 period...

Those suffering least from baggage problems during this period were West Midland travellers, with only 2 per cent having luggage difficulties...

Follow this disturbing report at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/6743576/2.5-million-items-of-luggage-lost-of-British-airports-every-year.html

Barticus.

'Protect Us!'

Independent travellers who enjoy creating all aspects of their desired experience may continue doing so with an extra bonus – levels of protection for holidaymakers is to be available for all.

According to the European Commission, compensation, when company failure occurs, will be provided to those vacationers who organise their own flights, accommodation and other additional services such as car hire.

We have heard many cases where travellers have been abandoned at airports due to the sudden collapse of their chosen operator, and due to recent European airlines that have been unsuccessful it is a positive beginning for the travel industry. Let’s hope that it all goes according to plan.

To follow this story click below...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/6661514/Europe-seeks-to-extend-protection-for-holidaymakers.html

G.T.I.

"Cut it out..."

This follows the news of the Eurocontrol and ACI Europe joint programme of reducing CO2 emission, and the growing support within the Airport sector of the tourism industry...

Eurocontrol and ACI Europe’s collaboration to increase operational efficiencies at European airports is already making progress with more than 30 airports so far engaged in the programme. Airport Collaborative Decision-Making (A-CDM), directly links airports into the Air Traffic Management network and gives users access to a range of operational data allowing them to make their operations more efficient. Successful implementation leads to significant reduction in CO2 emissions, which in turn helps airlines save fuel..

David McMillan, Director General of Eurocontrol said “The environmental balance has clearly tipped from awareness and acknowledgement to concrete actions resulting in a willingness to adopt substantive changes to operational procedures. A-CDM and other initiatives such as continuous descent approaches are good examples of what can be achieved when a number of stakeholders work together in partnership..."

This is good news for the ecologically aware, and we hope that this goes further, taking in the rest of the airports in Europe, thus setting a standard for the world to follow...

Follow more at http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/34311-Eurocontrol-and-ACI-Europe-joint-programme-of-reducing-CO2-emissions

Barticus.